Revenue cycle management is a central component of all healthcare billing, but is particularly important for anesthesia billing, as most practitioners don’t have much of a back-office staff (if any).

Anesthesiologists that want to ensure they’re getting paid 100% of what they’re owed need an anesthesia billing company that can support their revenue cycle management needs.

Revenue cycle management is important in all healthcare billing, but is especially important for anesthesiologists since they often don’t have back office staff.

What is revenue cycle management?

When anesthesiologists think about revenue cycle management, their main focus is on the final step: their take-home pay – which is as it should be. Anesthesiologists should be getting paid, in full, for the amount they’re owed every time. There should be no discrepancies or inaccuracies. Unfortunately, that’s not often the case.

Revenue cycle management includes the entire billing, coding, and claims process. It involves managing all claims, coding, processing, following up with payers (quite often multiple times), and processing final payment. These efforts are supported by coders and revenue collectors, as well as medical billing or practice management software which helps manage and track the entire claims process.

Revenue Cycle Management with Fusion Anesthesia

Fusion Anesthesia has helped anesthesiologists for over 40 years with comprehensive revenue cycle management services. Our specialized expertise gives us a complete understanding of the specific details needed to manage revenue cycle management in this challenging specialty.

Our Process

Our revenue cycle management process ensures that every claim is coded cleanly and paid in full. We do this through:

1. Quality Reporting: Before even beginning the revenue cycle management process, we make sure we are up-to-date on the latest anesthesiology-relevant government regulations. Our experienced staff feels right at home doing the intricate work of distinguishing which data needs to be reported, which programs you are required to participate in, and which ones are optional. We stay up to date on these regulations so you don’t have to, plus we can set up your reporting to meet these requirements.
2. Quality Data: A key component of coding a claim includes what actually occurred during the administration of services. We monitor data collection closely to ensure we are getting all the information we need to complete our side of the claim process. All of our claims are extensively reviewed, twice by our in-house staff, once by our own automated systems, and then two more times by our clearinghouse vendor to ensure the highest level of clean claim submission.
3. Coding: Having your claims accurately and cleanly coded is a critical factor in getting the maximum payment allowed. Our certified coders (AAPC) have over 40 years of experience dealing with all of the complexities of anesthesia coding, so they know exactly how to evaluate every procedure and clinical factor.
4. Claim tracking: Our advanced reporting and technology tools track both paper and electronic claims seamlessly. We ensure that every claim item is tracked accurately so we can ensure appropriate follow-up.
5. Follow-up: Our extensive follow-up process sets us apart from other anesthesia billing companies. Since we code clean claims the very first time, we are often able to collect in full on the first try. When that’s not possible, we take the additional time and effort to go after every penny you are owed. While other companies only collect the easy 80% and then consider the claim process finished, we do multiple follow-ups to maximize your collections.
6. Remittance: Our strong relationship with our banking partners significantly simplifies the remittance process when needed. Having our receivables team in-house means you get the fastest and most accurate handling of remittance requests, allowing you to get your deposits as soon as possible.
7. Reconciliations: We wish payers paid in full the first time, every time, but this is simply not the case. The reality is that most payers consistently underpay their contracted amounts. This is impossible to track without specialized software and specific efforts and process to hold each payer accountable for their contracted amounts for every different service. As far as we know, we are the only billing service that does this consistently.

What Makes Us Different

To be honest, the theoretical process of revenue cycle management is pretty standard across billing companies. What makes Fusion Anesthesia different is the actual time and effort we take to bill and collect everything that our clients are owed. The result is an average increase of 5-15% in additional revenue for our clients when they switch to our service.

We aren’t finished with a claim until we have completed multiple follow-ups to try and get every last penny you are owed.

Our Technology

We use advanced reporting and analytics which provides our team and our anesthesiologists with a customizable comprehensive overview of all important business, revenue, and operational information. This level of detail not only helps you ensure that you are meeting your financial goals, but can allow you negotiate your hospital contracts.

Our analytics and dashboards are completely customizable, providing you with as much or as little real-time information as you need. It includes individual views for your:

• Dashboards: Easy-to-understand snapshots of everything occurring within your business including:
  • Net Collection Ratio (net actual payment/contracted amount
  • Month/year versus last month/year
  • How your time is being utilized within the hospital
  • Collected vs expected amounts
  • Days in accounts receivable
  • Provider comparisons
• Receivables: Quick view of where all of your current balances stand, with the option to modify according to different timing perspectives.
• Collections: Helps you understand how your cash is really flowing between service date, payer, and contracts, including information on when actual payment deposits are expected.
• Custom Reports: If you find there are specific details that you want to have easily accessible and other ones that don’t feel so relevant, you can easily customize all the reports to fit your unique needs.

Our technology helps us track every single line item of a claim and helps you better understand the state of your business.

Comprehensive Revenue Cycle Management Services

Our software coupled with our team’s expertise allows us to provide you with the most complete and comprehensive revenue cycle management services. We use electronic data, automation, technology, and our highly experienced team to improve every aspect of the claims process. Plus, by having a bird’s eye view of the entire revenue cycle management process, we know exactly how and when to intervene, which ensures you receive your maximum take home every time.

Interested in receiving more information about our revenue cycle management services?

Contact us for more information, or, if you would like to know how much you could be taking home, sign up for a no-obligation audit. The audit shows you exactly how much money your current billing company might be leaving on the table.